The numbers for the Giants’ 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals are in.

Offence

Brian Daboll said it best: One touchdown isn’t enough, even as well as the Giants defense played last night.

The biggest culprit remains Daniel Jones. One-read quarterback Daniel Jones. Keep an eye on receiver Daniel Jones. Yes, that guy. Because that’s what Jones, who in recent weeks finally looked like he’d turned the corner and gotten into a groove, delivered.

Questionable decisions, like the turnover in the red zone (or is that “dead zone”?) when Jones should have taken a sack instead of trying to lift the ball out of the end zone while going backwards and then putting it in triple coverage throw it and let it pick.

An inability to make an audible out-of-pass play in the first quarter when the Bengals, who initially showed blitz, retreated into coverage at the last second. A long pass play of 15 yards, a stark reminder of how often Malik Nabers was missed.

It wasn’t just Jones’ fault, though. Five of the Giants’ seven third-down attempts in the first half went for at least eight yards. Throw a few dropped passes into the mix for good measure.

The run game sputtered out of the gate, with Jones incidentally the team’s rushing yardage leader (56 yards). Left tackle Andrew Thomas, now dealing with a foot injury, was beaten by Trey Hendrickson for two sacks and drawing an illegal man downfield penalty that negated a 56-yard completion for Darius Slayton.

Not good enough. Not even close.

Figure: F

Defense

What an absolute shame that the defense’s performance was wasted.

The Giants took an offense from the Bengals who had scored more than 30 points in hits in the last three games to just 17 points, their second-lowest points output of the season. They found a way to harass Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow at least once per 1.86 dropback attempts.

They survived the loss of Kayvon Thibodeaux as Azeez Ojulari had a two-sack night on defense. Micah McFadden forced two fumbles as he continues to have a solid season. The defense even kept superstar receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins from going off.

It wasn’t perfect – see Joe Burrow’s 47-yard TD and Chase Brown’s 30-yard TD. But overall, the defensive performance was good enough for a win, with the offense failing to contribute.

Figure: A-

Special teams

The Giants’ special teams must be cursed; there is no other explanation for what happened to them this season.

Kicker Greg Joseph, finally settled after a rough debut as a Giant, hooked two field goal attempts from more than 40 yards wide left despite initially appearing to have no problem with new punter Matt Haack’s snaps or holds, in for the ailing Jamie Gillan, the latest specialist to appear on the injury report late in the week.

Ihmir Smith-Marsette was forced to miss one of his kick returns – he was replaced by Adoree ‘Jackson – after being beaten up. Not that it mattered, as on two returns, Smith-Marsette only collected one yard in his attempt to turn the field.

Haack had a nice debut, averaging 468 yards with a net average of 43.5 and putting two balls inside the 20-yard line.

But just like the offense, it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t good enough.

Grade: D

Coaching

Brian Daboll edited the “F– it!” of the players. attitude by going for it five times in fourth place, three of which were successful. It was a valiant attempt to light a fire under the back end of the sluggish attack, but it didn’t matter.

Shane Bowen once again delivered a strong game plan that tamed the Bengals’ explosive offense and has the unit still playing at a high level, or at least one good enough to contribute to the win.

The question that will ultimately have to be answered by Daboll is how long he will be able to keep up the maddeningly inconsistent play of his starting quarterback, who, by the way, has that injury guarantee in his contract. The best guess is that they will last through the bye week, and if things don’t improve, they will try to make a change.

Figure: B-

MORE COVERAGE